For three straight years, baseball has had a clear No. 1 free agent whose projected contract dominates conversations around the sport for months.
First, it was Aaron Judge in the midst of a 62-home run campaign. Then it was Shohei Ohtani, pitching and hitting his way to an unprecedented free agency frenzy.
Now it’s Juan Soto‘s turn.
The slugger, who returned to the New York Yankees‘ lineup Monday night after missing three games with forearm inflammation, is having a career year in his first season in the Bronx. He won’t turn 26 until October — meaning plenty of length is on the table for his deal. And his agent is Scott Boras, who is set to negotiate the biggest contract of his career right after a season when many of his clients settled for shorter-term deals.
So we have one of the best hitters in the game (if not the best), currently playing for the most famous team in the sport, entering his prime years, and with MLB’s most prominent agent leading the negotiations. Add it all up and baseball is set for another winter with a potentially record-breaking contract.
How much will Soto get? What record will he aim for in his deal? And which teams have the best chance of signing him? We polled 28 MLB executives, agents and insiders to find out what Soto’s contract will look like this winter.
